


Endless Spark

by kiwi_stan



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: Ace/Nancy Fall Drabblefest 2020, F/M, she's actually Nancy Hudson in this hehe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:26:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwi_stan/pseuds/kiwi_stan
Summary: Written for @aceandnancy on tumblr's drabblefest with the prompt: Gilmore Girls-ish AU: Ryan raises Nancy in Horseshoe Bay cut off from his family and runs the ice cream parlor him and Lucy loved. Nancy and Ace grow up as best friends.
Relationships: Ace & Nancy Drew, Ace/Nancy Drew
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	Endless Spark

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest fic I've written in a while and it was so fun to write! I loved writing Ryan as a dad, Ace and Nancy as kids, and a little bit of Ace's relationship with his parents. I hope it's fun to read too! 
> 
> It's Nice to Have a Friend is like the song for Ace/Nancy in this fic (and in general tbh) and the title is from an interview where Taylor talked about there being an "endless spark" between childhood friends.

Ryan Hudson was panicking. Two of his employees had called off, his babysitter had cancelled, and he had a very curious, very chatty five year old who he couldn’t let run around the ice cream shop all day. 

A flyer caught his eye. It had been shoved in his mailbox a few days ago, and he’d left it on the counter and forgotten about it until now. He read over it a little more closely. It was from the library, announcing a full day of activities for kids today. Storytimes, arts and crafts, a pizza lunch, even a bounce house set up outside. He had a feeling parents were expected to stay and supervise the entire time, but maybe he could just leave Nancy, at least for a few hours. There would be librarians around to supervise, Nancy was a good kid, and the library was close enough that he could dash over and check on her when things were slow at the shop. How much trouble could a kid get into at a library anyway? 

With his mind made up and feeling quite proud of himself for coming up with the idea, Ryan drove Nancy to the library and told her to be good and that he would be back in a few hours. 

*  
Ryan drove well over the speed limit to get to the library. It was a hot summer Saturday and the shop had been busy all day. He’d been hoping to sneak away after about two hours, but it had been closer to five since he’d dropped his daughter off. As he walked into the library, he was praying that Nancy had been alright on her own for so long and that he wouldn’t find her sobbing about how her father had abandoned her. 

The kids were in one of the meeting rooms in the back, working on some craft that looked incredibly messy. He spotted Nancy right away, both because of her red hair and because she was pretty much the only kid without an attentive-looking parent hovering over her. He felt a little guilty about that, but was reassured by the fact that she seemed to be doing okay, sitting next to a boy who also seemed to be alone and happily cutting a shape out of construction paper. He approached and knelt down next to her. “How are you doing, pumpkin?” 

“Good. We’re making flowers. And I made a new friend! Daddy, this is Ace.” She gestured to the boy next to her, who looked maybe a year or so older than Nancy. 

“Sir?” Came a stern sounding voice from behind him. Ryan stood up and whirled around to see one of the librarians staring at him. “Is this your daughter?” She pointed to Nancy. 

“Yes,” He had a feeling he knew where this was going. “I know I shouldn’t have just left her, but my babysitter cancelled and I had to work and-” He stopped himself before he said “I don’t know what I’m doing”. Being a young single dad wasn’t easy, but he didn’t want to explain that to someone who looked ready to scold him. 

The librarian folded her arms. “The library is not free childcare.” Her expression softened as she took him in. Ryan knew he probably looked as tired as he felt, with ice cream all over his uniform shirt and his hair messy. “But everyone needs help sometimes. And she seems to be getting along very well with my son.” 

Ryan looked between the boy and the librarian, noticing their shared dark hair and blue eyes. “Your son?” 

She placed her hands affectionately on the boy’s shoulders. “Ace spends a lot of time here with me.” She explained. 

He felt a tug on the hem of his shirt and glanced down to see Nancy looking up at him expectantly. “Daddy, can Ace come over and play sometime?”  
*  
From that day on, Ace and Nancy were joined at the hip. Ryan had always been a little worried about her making friends. She was friendly and outgoing, but she was fiercely independent. She hadn’t really seemed interested in making friends until Ace came along. But they clicked right away, making up their own little games and doing crafts together. 

Ryan grew close with the librarian, Laura, and her husband, Thom. He told them everything: what his family had put Lucy through, how when she told him about the pregnancy they had made plans to leave both their families and run away together and raise their baby far away from Horseshoe Bay. How he’d gotten a panicked call from Lucy one night and gone to the bluffs to find her with the baby. He’d taken the baby from her, looked down for just a second to make sure that the baby was alright, the next thing he knew Lucy was gone, fallen off the bluffs. How he still didn’t know if it was intentional, especially after the cops found her suicide note in her diary. How he felt like he had to stay in Horseshoe Bay, since it was where all his memories with Lucy were. How he’d completely cut off his family, not wanting them anywhere near Nancy. How his family now summered in Rhode Island and how he hadn’t spoken to any of them in years. How hard the first few years as a single dad had been, starting out as a cashier at the ice cream shop and hardly making any money and trying to take care of a baby. How he had worked his way up to manager now and was handling the dad thing a little better, but how he still struggled. How he was most worried about what would happen as Nancy grew older and grew up without a mother figure.  
*  
“The real estate guy is totally the monster.” Nancy said as a commercial for cereal replaced the cartoon. 

Nancy was five, Ace was six and they were sitting on the couch at Ace’s house watching Scooby Doo. Nancy liked that he also liked to watch closely to find the clues to guess who the monster was before the end of the episode. Nancy always had the mystery solved about halfway through and was always right. 

“You think?” Ace asked. He also knew not to talk during the show, only during the commercials, which Nancy liked. Her dad always talked when Nancy was watching cartoons and when they watched Disney movies together. 

“He wants to keep people away from the land so he can build his houses.” Nancy explained. 

Ace considered it. “Makes sense.” The show started again and they were both quiet for the next ten minutes as the gang solved the mystery and unmasked the real estate developer. Nancy had been right. 

“So are you ready for school tomorrow?” Ace asked as another commercial started. It was the last weekend of summer, and the last day before Nancy started kindergarten. 

“I think so. Daddy says it’ll be fun.” Nancy reached for another cookie. Ace’s mom always baked for them whenever Nancy came over, and for that reason Nancy loved Ace’s house. Her dad had tried to bake once, had used salt instead of sugar, and had given up and started frequenting the baked goods aisle of the grocery store instead. Store bought couldn’t compare to homemade though. 

“It is. You get to color and you learn shapes and the teacher reads to you. And we’ll have recess together. We can go on the swings together or something.” Ace, being a year older, had already been through kindergarten. Nancy wasn’t scared. Not really. Her dad had said it would be fun and that there would be lots of kids her own age there. She hoped she would find more friends like Ace.  
*  
“Are you sure you’re okay up there?” Ace asked. 

Nancy was seven, Ace was eight and they were at Horseshoe Bay’s local park. Nancy was swinging across the monkey bars and Ace was watching nervously. Even though he was just a year older, he still felt responsible for Nancy and didn’t want to see her getting hurt. Their parents were at a nearby picnic table, talking about grown-up things and had turned Ace and Nancy loose. 

“I’m fine.” Nancy insisted. 

“Ace!” Ace reluctantly took his eyes off Nancy and turned around to see his mom waving him over and holding a bottle of sunscreen. 

“I’ll be right back. Be careful Nancy!” Ace turned and ran back to the picnic table. 

Ace was only gone for a few minutes, but when he headed back to the playground, he found Nancy on the ground with bleeding knees and tears in her eyes, with an older boy hovering over her. Ace vaguely recognized him as a kid a few grades above them in school, one of the bullies who threw snowballs with rocks in them during winter recesses He usually stayed away from the younger kids, but apparently he wasn’t above pushing a seven-year-old girl off the monkey bars either. 

Ace’s mom had talked to him about bullies before. He knew the rule was to tell an adult. He jogged back to the picnic table. “Mr. Hudson, Mr. Hudson!” Nancy’s dad hated to be called Mr. Hudson. He insisted that everyone call him Ryan, which had always felt weird to Ace to begin with (his dad had raised him to respect authority, which meant never calling an adult by their first name), and in his worry about Nancy he completely forgot. “Some boy hurt Nancy!” 

The group of parents (with Ace’s parents coming along after some signing between them) followed Ace back to the playground, where they found a very different scene. Nancy wasn’t crying anymore, she was standing and poking the boy in the chest, clearly standing up for herself. Ace felt a little rush of pride for his friend. 

“You think it’s funny to push people off the monkey bars?” Ace could hear her saying as he drew closer. 

Ace’s mom took charge. “Trevor, are you here alone?” She asked. She knew almost every kid in town. They all came to the library, and the town was small enough that she was able to get to know almost all of them. 

Trevor shook his head, his face pointing at the ground. “My mom’s here.” He said quietly, not as cocky now that he’d been caught picking on someone. 

“How about we go have a little talk with her?” Ace recognized his mom’s tone, the voice she used with him when he was really in trouble. He grinned a little. Trevor was in for it, he thought watching as Trevor led his mom away. 

“Are you okay, Fancy Nancy?” Ryan asked, scooping Nancy up.  
Nancy nodded as Ryan settled her on his hip. “He pushed me Daddy. And I fell. But I’m okay. And I told him he shouldn’t push people.” 

“I saw. I’m glad you stood up for yourself.” Ryan smoothed Nancy’s hair, then examined her knees a little more closely, still worried. “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?” Nancy nodded. 

“My mom keeps Band-aids in her purse.” Ace offered. He’d seen her whip them out many times before, when he got a papercut on a book at the library or when he tripped on the sidewalk and skinned his knee. 

“Good idea, Ace.” Still carrying Nancy, Ryan headed for the picnic table. Ace started to follow, but was stopped by his father’s hand on his shoulder. He turned around and focused hard as his father signed. It had been a few years, but ASL still felt new to them both. “Yes, Nancy is a very brave girl.” Ace agreed. 

*  
“It was Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick!” Nancy yelled. 

Nancy was nine, Ace was ten, and they were sitting on his living room floor and playing Clue together. 

“You have got to be cheating!” 

Nancy shook her head. “Nope. I’m just good.” 

“Maybe you’ll be a detective one day.” Ace said. 

They both looked up as Ace’s dad entered the room. Ace watched happily as Nancy signed “Hi Captain Thom, how are you?” and his dad signed back to Nancy that he was doing well. His dad didn’t like all of his friends. Or well, Ace didn’t have a ton of friends to begin with, but Ace had brought a few boys home throughout elementary school who his dad had hated. He didn’t like not being able to communicate with them, and none of Ace’s friends had cared enough to try to learn ASL. There had been one boy who had wanted to leave almost immediately after entering Ace’s house, explaining that it was “too weird being in a house with a deaf person”. Ace had let the kid leave and hadn’t spoken to him again. Nancy had asked Ace one day a year ago to learn to sign and Ace had happily agreed. She was a fast learner and had picked up the language quickly. For his part, Ace’s dad liked that Nancy was making an effort, and she was the only friend of Ace’s that he didn’t go out of his way to avoid. 

Nancy kept signing, “Do you want to watch something on,” Her hands stopped moving. “Ace, how do I say TV?” Ace demonstrated. Nancy watched closely, then copied him. “We can go to Ace’s room.” She finished. 

Ace knew his father would have banished anyone else to Ace’s room. But for Nancy, he smiled and shook his head. “You can stay right here,” He signed.  
*  
“Do you think she’s okay?” Ace asked. 

Nancy was twelve, Ace was thirteen and they were walking the streets of downtown Horseshoe Bay late at night. It was later than either of them was usually allowed to stay out, but the entire town was out, armed with flashlights and looking for Rose Turnball. Their parents were a few paces ahead of them on the street, but Ace and Nancy trailed behind as they talked. 

“I hope so. I don’t see why she would run off though. Someone must have taken her.” 

“That’s pretty scary.” Ace looked a little alarmed. With a cop as a father, he wasn’t a stranger to the darker sides of life. But a missing child seemed extra disturbing. 

“They wouldn’t have taken her far. Too risky driving that far, and going over state lines makes it a federal crime. They wouldn’t want the FBI involved.” Nancy had recently discovered Forensic Files and old episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and found herself fascinated. She’d also buried herself in the mystery and crime sections of the library. She’d since learned enough about crime to make her dad worry, though after she assured him that she was more interested in how crimes were solved rather than how they were committed he calmed down. Confident that his daughter wasn’t going to turn into a serial killer, Ryan let Nancy’s interest in mysteries flourish and had provided her with every Ann Rule book she asked for. 

“So you think she’s still here in Horseshoe Bay? That kind of seems scarier. Like all of this happening so close to home. Don’t you think?” Ace kept talking even though Nancy had stopped in her tracks. “Nancy?” 

“Look,” She murmured, gesturing with her flashlight to a man in a trenchcoat. “Why isn’t he looking?” The man was walking alone, most people out were in groups. With a kidnapper on the loose, no one wanted to take chances by going out alone after dark. Almost everyone had flashlights and were calling out for Rose as they walked, the man was walking quietly and was empty-handed. 

“That’s weird.” Ace agreed. Ace and Nancy stood side by side and watched the man slip into an alley. 

“Let’s follow him.” Nancy suggested, her curious instincts kicking in. 

“Shouldn’t we tell my dad? Or Chief McGinnis?” 

“They won’t listen to a couple of kids. The guy could be long gone by the time they actually go look for him. Let’s go!” Before Ace could argue, Nancy raced across the street and headed into the alley. He wanted to look out for her, of course, but his curiosity was getting the best of him too. He followed Nancy into the old building, up the hidden staircase, and together they found Rose. 

Later, much much later, after talking to the cops and the newspaper and explaining how they found Rose about 100 times and after a scolding from both of their parents (and lots of kisses from his mom for Ace), Nancy gave Ace a hug. “We make a good team.” She said. Ace agreed.  
*  
“Watcha doing?” Nancy asked, coming up behind Ace as he was clicking away on a library computer. 

Nancy was thirteen, Ace was fourteen. He had just started high school, she was still in eight grade, which meant they didn’t see each other during school days now. They tried to make up for it by spending as much time as possible together on weekends. 

“Trying to hack my mom’s email. I know she’s been emailing my grandma about my birthday present.” 

“Cool.” Nancy dropped into the chair beside him. Ace had mentioned to her that he was starting to get into hacking. Nancy thought it was cool. She wasn’t good enough with computers to get into it, but she liked having a friend with a cool (and illegal) hobby. Plus, maybe it would come in handy one day when she needed to solve a mystery. “How did you learn how to do this? She asked. 

“There’s lots of forums and websites for it. It’s pretty easy once you know where to look. A couple of my friends are helping me learn too.”

“Friends?” 

“You know, that I met online.” 

“Oh.” Was all Nancy could manage while she gathered her next thoughts. Her dad had drummed Internet safety to her since she was young, and she knew Ace’s parents had too. Especially his dad. Nancy wasn’t exactly a stickler for the rules herself, but she just hoped Ace wasn’t being careless. 

“Nancy, I’m being safe. Don’t worry.” Ace gave her a little smile that made her heart flutter for some reason. Ace had a very nice smile, she realized now. 

Something else was nagging at her, so she pushed her feelings aside and pressed on. “I know! You’re smart. It’s just….your online friends. Is high school going okay?” She’d always been in school with Ace, so she’d noticed that he spent a lot of time either with her or alone. He had a few other boys he talked to, but otherwise he was kind of a loner. She hoped he wasn’t too lonely in high school without her. 

Ace’s face fell. “It’s been a little hard.” He admitted, turning away from the computer to face Nancy. Nancy appreciated how Ace had never been one of those boys who acted like he would die if he showed an emotion. Ace was pretty much an open book when it came to talking about his feelings and struggles. “A lot of the guys are really into sports and have girlfriends. It’s really different from what I’m into. You know that.” 

Nancy frowned. She didn’t want to think about Ace feeling alone, or not fitting in, or even being picked on He was her best friend. “I wish we were there together.” She placed a hand on his arm. 

“Me too. We will be next year.” He places his hand over hers. “But I’ll be okay until then. I have my computer and I have you.” They shared a smile. 

“So have you hacked into anything yet?” Nancy asked, pulling her hand away from Ace before things got too weird and changing the subject. 

“I got into the library database last weekend. I could see who checked out what and when and if they had any fines. You should pay that 50 cents you owe for having All the President’s Men out for too long by the way.” 

“I was planning on it!” Nancy protested, though she’d forgotten about it until now. She made a mental note to drop into Ace’s mom’s office later and pay the fine. 

“Oh, and you know Mrs. Bayley? That really old lady who lives on Maple?” 

“The one who circulated that petition last year trying to get them to change the holiday signs to “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”? Because…” 

“You have to keep the Christ in Christmas.” Ace finished the phrase they’d become very familiar with last year thanks to Mrs. Bayley’s campaign. Nancy knew her from the big honking cross she always wore around her neck and the fact that she was always seating in the first row of the local church when Nancy’s father insisted that they go on Easter and Christmas. Whenever Nancy let her mind wander during the service and decided to watch people instead, she always saw the old woman shooting dirty looks at all the other churchgoers, like she couldn’t believe people only came on religious holidays. 

“Anyway, she checked out a bunch of Slasher films last month.” Ace continued. They both laughed at that. “I didn’t really get to do anything interesting though. Once I learn more I can do some really cool stuff.” 

“Like what?” Nancy asked. 

“You’ll see.” Ace teased. “Just about every business has its own internet. So does the government. There’s a lot I can do once I learn how to get into stuff like that.”  
*  
“Whoa, are you okay?” Ace asked as he opened the door to see a sobbing Nancy. 

Nancy was fourteen, Ace was fifteen. Nancy had known a little bit about her dad, her mom, and her dad’s family. Ryan had never really hid it from her, though he’d always kept it age appropriate. “It’s just you and Daddy, but Daddy loves you soooo much” followed by a bunch of kisses to distract her when she was a little kid and asked why her classmates got to bring a grandparent to school one day for Grandparent’s Day but she’d just brought her dad. “Mom died when you were a baby and my relationship with my family got weird after that so we don’t talk now,” when she was in middle school and had finally asked for more information. She’d long known there was more to it and had finally pressed her dad for the full story. To his credit, he had sat her down and told her the entire thing, finally figuring that she was old enough to handle it. 

Nancy was crying too hard to answer. Ace did the only thing he could think of to do, to bring her inside and drew her into his arms. Ace rubbed her back, the same way his mom did with him when he was upset. Being this close to Nancy felt very right and very natural and very good, he realized. But he pushed his feelings away, knowing that taking care of Nancy was most important. “Nancy, what happened?” With her face still buried in his chest, she shook her head, still not ready to talk. Ace led her to the couch and settled down next to her as he waited for her to be ready to talk. 

Finally, Nancy lifted her head. “My dad just told me what really happened to my mom.” She said. 

“That must be a lot to take in.” Ace had been just a baby when Lucy Sable had died, so he didn’t remember it. Her death still hung heavy over the town and was occasionally whispered about by more ghoulish townspeople, but it had never become town lore out of respect for Ryan and Nancy. The true circumstances behind it and the subsequent Hudson family falling out were known only to Ryan, and now Nancy. 

Nancy quickly explained what her dad had told her. Ace felt his heart sink with every word. It was an incredibly sad story, and it must have been hard for Nancy to hear. 

“I just feel like she didn’t want me. She didn’t even love me if she threw herself off the cliff right after I was born.” Nancy was crying again now, so Ace pulled her close again. 

“Nancy, no. She loved you. So much. She made sure your dad had you. She knew that he would take care of you and raise you. She wanted what was best for you.” Ace rubbed her back again. “She would be very proud of how you’ve grown up and your relationship with your dad.” 

“And my grandparents, how could they be so awful to her?” 

Ace pulled back a little bit so he could look Nancy in the eyes. He tilted her chin up with two fingers so she was looking at him. His heart broke a little bit when he saw more tears welling up in her red-rimmed eyes. He just wanted to make her feel better. “Nancy Hudson, listen to me. You are nothing like them. You are kind and caring and empathetic. I don’t think they know the meaning of any of those words.” 

Nancy bit her lip as more tears started to fall. “They didn’t want me either. They were so awful to Mom, because of me.” 

“But your dad wanted what was best for you. He cut them off and took care of you completely on his own because he didn’t want such awful people anywhere near you. Nancy, they don’t deserve to know you. Really.” 

Nancy threw herself at him this time, burying her face in his shoulder. Ace slid his arms around her again. “Thank you, Ace.” He heard her murmur into his shirt.  
*  
“Ace, come on, you can’t skip prom!” Nancy said. 

Ace was seventeen, Nancy was sixteen. Ace was about to graduate high school, and was excited to move on. Though he’d be staying in Horseshoe Bay and working rather than going to college, he was still excited to be done with classes and fake people. He was so ready to be done, he was planning on skipping all the traditional end-of-year activities and just showing up to collect his diploma then never thinking about Keene High ever again. Nancy was not planning on letting him. 

“It’s so big and so fun and everyone will be there! You have to go!” 

Ace shook his head. “I can’t go alone.” 

“Go with your friends! Or ask someone. I’m sure there’s plenty of girls at Keene that haven’t been asked yet.” 

Ace could think of one in particular that he would be interested in asking. “Like you?” He asked, before he lost his nerve. 

Nancy just stared at him for a second, trying to gauge if he was serious. “I would love to go with you.” Nancy wasn’t sure exactly when things had begun to shift between her and Ace. But in the past few years, she’d begun to enjoy their little friendly touches more. The short relationships she’d had with guys throughout high school had seemed unsatisfying, she’d always felt like something was missing. When she thought about it more, she realized that she wished they were more like Ace. She’d always been too scared to make a move though, not wanting to risk losing her best friend if things didn’t work out. But now it seemed like she finally had her chance. “But I wouldn’t want us to just go to prom.” 

Ace took her hand and smiled, seeming to realize that this was going. “What else would you like us to do?” 

Nancy recognized Ace agreeing with her. “Dinner, movies, mini-golf, the mall, drives in Florence...whatever else couples do.” 

“I think that could be arranged.” Ace said before pulling her in for a kiss.


End file.
